Netflix on Monday announced that it had secured a five-year deal with Paramount Pictures for the rights to stream its films, but the deal will currently only be available to Netflix's Canadian customers.
In the next few months, Netflix will add 350 Paramount films to its Canadian lineup, which started with "The Last Airbender" and Marvel's "Iron Man 2" on March 25.
The deal will eventually provide Canadian users with access to movies like "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Titanic," and "Defiance," comedies like "Zoolander" and "Wayne's World," and classics like "The African Queen," "Sabrina" (1954) and "Terms of Endearment."
Netflix expanded into Canada in September with a streaming-only option for $7.99 per month. When that proved successful, Netflix extended the streaming-only option to the U.S. in November. The company has said it would like to expand to other international markets in the coming years, but no announcements have been made.
Some of the Paramount films being added to the Canadian "Watch Instantly" are currently available for U.S. users via Netflix's deal with Epix, including "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and "Defiance." In August, Netflix announced a content deal with Epix that added feature films from Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM to the company's streaming lineup on September 1.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Netflix and Miramax are close to finalizing a five-year, $100 million deal that would bring more than 700 Miramax movies to Watch Instantly.
Recently, Netflix moved into the original programming space, announcing plans to air the TV series "House of Cards" exclusively on "Watch Instantly," beginning in 2012. In the days surrounding that announcement, Showtime said it would no longer provide some of its original programming to Netflix, while Starz said it would delay the streaming debut of its new show "Camelot" for 90 days instead of one day.